Kansas City Sights to See

We've been in Kansas City and decided to visit the new World War I museum, which is under the monument built just after the war and close to Union Station. The museum is beautifully designed. They did an especially good job on their videos. One is shown on a very wide piece of muslin hung behind a battlefield replica, so the film seems to spill on to the battlefield. They had very interesting artifacts and we found it captivating. I took a picture of the sign above. Now we know where that expression came from!

After lunch at the Plaza, we moved to the Nelson Art Gallery. They have a very nice collection as well. We prefer looking at the very old art from ancient civilizations, but they also have some very nice modern art. We enjoyed the Chinese furniture collection. There was one modern piece, I forget the artist, of Venus rising, except she's hidden by a big piece of canvas. It was a spoof of the original, and cleverly done. Another piece I liked was one done by a modern artist (I'm sure he's famous, but I'm hopelessly undereducated in this area). He had done a life cast of his head and one arm. His head is resting on his hand, who's elbow is on a table and he's looking down at a chessboard. Clever and interesting. Sorry, no picture. Should have taken one.

Before we left, Eric communed with this lovely lion.

Farewell to School

Yesterday was the last day of work for us, putting everything way, sorting through worksheets and getting them back where they belong, so I can find them next year. Saying goodbye to those who are leaving; some I will miss, others not so much so. The usual sign-out sheet came with a suggestion page with questions: What did you like most about this school year? The students and some of my co-workers. Any suggestions for improvement? None. The last line said RETURN BEFORE LEAVING. I wrote, How can I return before I leave? Nothing serious from me. I prefer my complaints and suggestions be anonymous.

Next is the rush to get ready to fly to the States in just a few more days. The lawn is high, the dogs are dirty, the house is dusty, the suitcase is unpacked. But, it will all get done. It always does. Hopefully, our time in the States will be productive. More about that later.

Triathlon . . . or Jim runs amok!

The first Saturday in June Jim ran in a three-man team triathlon in Kusel. He was asked about three weeks prior by a German friend of a friend, Johann, and our assistant principal, Chip. Johann was going to do the biking leg (60 km) and Chip was going to do the swim leg (1.25 km). They needed a runner. Jim stepped up his training and they entered the race. It was a beautiful day; there were many families, just a real community thing. Not a small thing, however. 140 teams started the race. Johann was near the back of the pack finishing, but Chip is a powerful swimmer and managed to move them up a lot, but then Jim got confused about where he was supposed to go and ended up crossing the finish line before completing his second lap. It took a while to sort out the confusion and get him back on the track, and they ended up finishing dead last. But, everyone was on their feet and felt that had the path been better marked, they wouldn't have won anything, but would have had a respectable finish. They plan to compete again next year. I didn't have to watch alone, a friend of Chips and our pal, Luci joined me and we enjoyed ourselves immensely, espsecially when one old fellow climbed out of the pool and started off the wrong way flashing us a big view of his swim trunks halfway down his elderly butt. More than worth the price of admission (free)! Too bad my camera was off at the time!